The Last Time
by Kat24mlr
Summary: Emma and Snow are back from the enchanted forest and danger looms in the horizon. An outsider comes to Storybrook, but can he help the savior and the town or are some wounds too deep to heal? Emma/Neal some Emma and her parents.
1. Chapter 1

Well, must be the end of the world if I'm posting something. Anyone with author alerts, I'm sorry but this is all I want to write about lately. Hopefully I'll get to post something later on those unfinished stories. *Hides under newly fixed computer*

**Alright to business, love this show… so much so that I've written about eight stories that are just sitting on my computer. So I thought, why not share? Not sure how I'm going to link the stories just yet but be on the lookout for more.**

**As always, I don't own the characters. Also I'm going with Neal is Balefire. This applies to all chapters and thus I won't say it again.**

**Chapter One**

_Let me pour you a glass of red  
To get your mind off the things I said  
I'd say sorry, you know I would  
But my pride tastes too damn good_

_Honey Come Home – Elenowen _

"Um excuse me" a man with messy brown hair and the same color eyes entered the police station, interrupting Snow and James who were leaning against his desk deep in conversation. He wore jeans and a black tee shirt and jacket, and looked almost nervous as his hand went through his hair further messing it.

Snow had brought him and Emma lunch and had been trying to convince her husband to keep an eye on Emma when the man walked in.

Instantly they turned suspicious eyes to him, not recognizing him at all.

"Can I help you?" James asked standing, his hands going to his waist defensively.

The man moved father into the station, glancing around almost nervously "Um yeah I was wondering if there was an Emma Swan around? I was told I would find her here"

James glanced back at Snow who shook her head telling him she had no idea who he was.

"What do you want with Emma?" he asked suspiciously, kicking into father mode.

"I came to find her, we… she's an old friend. She's not in trouble is she?" He glanced around again as if looking for her in one of the cells.

"Why would she be in trouble?" James asked but before the man could answer Emma appeared through the door. "Here she is now" He said motioning behind him.

Emma gave a confused look to her father, before the man turned around and she stopped dead in her tracks.

He said her name, a hint of feeling still there, taking a few steps towards her. Emma suddenly spurred into motion moved closer towards him, bringing her fist back in one fluid motion and hitting him as hard as she could in the face knocking him down.

Surprised, he went to the ground. She clutched her hand, pacing above him but she felt a little better. "Alright I deserved that" he said slowly getting up. Once he was fully up in front of her again he tried to say more. "Emma please let me explain"

With all the grief and sadness that he had caused her, setting her up, leaving her pregnant in jail, having to give up her baby, it was all too much and she hit him again and he grunted stumbeling. This time though she heard a faint crack and knew her hand was definitely broken now.

"Son of a" she cried out and now James and Snow were by her side. "I deserved that one too" he muttered.

"What the hell are you doing here Neal?" she snarled at him, glaring as he stood up straight though leaning against the desk.

He wiped a bit of blood from his mouth, breathing heavily. "I came to find you… to apologize and explain"

"Get out" she snapped, still clutching her hand to her stomach. She had barely noticed her father at her elbow or her mother trying to get a look at her hand, but he did. _She found them, good _he thought.

"Em please, I just wanted to do what was best for you, you know I would never want to leave you" he said sincerely, looking straight at her, hoping she would remember the promise he had once made to her gazing at the stars from the hood of the bug.

Without another word she turned on her heel and started walking away, leaving her parents and Neal startled. "Where are you going?" he called.

"Hospital" she muttered under her breath, Snow at her side giving her a worried look, while James kept Neal there with only a glare.

Emma took keys out of her pocket, frowning when they saw they were for the bug. She would have rather the Sherriff's car but had no intention of going back for them now.

Just as she was about to put the key in the driver's side door, Snow grabbed them from her "I'll drive you." Snow could see the anger radiating from her daughter, but she stood up straighter her eyes narrowing in preparation for the fight she knew was coming.

"Now really isn't the time for the parenting crap alright" she reached for the keys but Snow pulled them out of reach.

"Just get in the car Emma" They both glared at each other, each waiting for the other to back down, each just as stubborn as the last.

"Fine" Emma said moving around the car and throwing herself in before shutting the door. She didn't want to deal with Neal continuing their fight outside.

As Snow drove she watched her daughter out of the corner of her eye, holding her hand but looking straight ahead.

"Can you move your fingers?" She asked to no response.

"Alright fine if you're not going to talk to me, you'll just have to listen. I'm going to assume that was Henry's biological father by the way you broke your hand on his face"

Emma turned to look out the window, not wanting to see the look of disappointment on her mother's face. "Yep"

Sighing, Snow pulled into a parking spot outside the hospital. "and you don't want to talk about it"

"Nope" Emma opened her door, and quickly started into the hospital, Snow following behind her.

Three hours and a cast later, Snow and Emma left the hospital, Emma not even bothering to try for the driver's seat. Arriving home, Henry ran to his mother the second she had opened the door.

"Emma what happened to your hand? Did you break it?" He asked hugging her. She held onto him a little longer than usual, closing her eyes.

"Yes it's broken, it should be healed in a few weeks" she said finally letting him go.

"Was it my mom?" he asked concerned, but she shook her head. "No, it wasn't your mom" _It was your dad,_ she thought bitterly. Henry looked confused but Snow saved her the explaining by ushering Henry to bed.

"Your mom's tired, how about I go put you to bed and read you a story, and she can tell you about it tomorrow"

He looked conflicted, but finally gave in giving his mom another hug. "Goodnight mom, I hope your hand feels better tomorrow"

"Thanks kid, goodnight… I love you" she whispered holding him tight.

"Love you too" he bound to his and Emma's room with Snow.

As soon as he was gone, Emma slumped down on one of the barstools, putting her head down on her un-casted arm, the other laying uselessly on the table.

James stood on the other side, unsure of how to help his daughter. "He's in a holding cell for the night down at the station" James offered. He didn't mention that the man had barely put up a fight, accepting charges of disturbing the peace. He had no clue who the man was but it was clear that he had hurt his daughter and that was all it took to set James off. He didn't risk his life to save his baby girl for some loser to come by and break her heart.

"You didn't have to do that, he's not dangerous" She said picking up her head to look at him.

James eyes twinkled a little "yeah well I felt maybe he deserved it anyways"

Their relationship had never really been that strong, Emma only knowing him as the man Mary Margaret was in love with, the man who had smashed her heart to pieces over and over again.

Nevertheless, Emma wanted nothing more at this moment than to be in her father's arms.

Maybe it was that desire he saw in her eyes, or maybe he just saw the devastated helpless expression and acted accordingly, because the next moment he had come round the counter and was holding her tight.

She didn't know when it was she had started crying, her head buried into his shoulder, her arms clutching her stomach.

James rubbed her back, softly telling her it would be alright. When she had given him that look with her mother's green eyes, the one Snow gave him when she was on the verge of breaking down; he had acted without caring how Emma would respond. Now he was glad he did. He kissed the top of her head, his hand going to her hair as the tears kept falling.

Snow came in at some point, stopping as she saw her husband holding her crying daughter. She locked eyes with James from across the room, and he gave her a worried look. A "what do we do?" look.

Emma must have felt Snow's presence as her crying stopped and she pulled away, wiping her tears. James got her a tissue, and Snow finally entered the room.

"I…" Emma started, embarrassed for breaking down like she did. She had no idea what to say to James as she looked at him shyly.

"It's okay" he repeated once more, a small smile on his face. Snow busied herself with making cocoa for them, trying her best not to look at Emma. It had been great to watch her husband and daughter finally bond, but at the same time she longed for the same openness Mary Margaret had shared with her. As her mother she had shut her out time and again, save for a handful of moments in the forest and it killed her.

James continued to stroke his daughter's hair as they both watched Snow pour three cups of hot chocolate, adding whipped cream, and cinnamon to two. She turned handing cups to James and Emma, finally looking at her for the first time that night, her heart breaking for her daughter. "Thanks" she muttered taking it from her.

They sat around the island, drinking cocoa in silence.

"How's your hand?" Snow asked, gently touching the white cast.

"It feels better now, still achy though" she answered, her voice raspy from crying. They stared at each other for a moment, before Emma nodded signaling she was ready to talk but giving a nervous glance in her father's direction.

Snow gave him a look too and he instantly understood.

Standing up he put his now empty cup in the sink. "I'll let you two talk, goodnight" He kissed his wife on the cheek first and placed and hand on Emma's shoulder for a moment giving her a nod.

Once he was gone Emma fiddled with her mug, unsure of what to say "I'm sorry for earlier" she started.

Snow nodded, taking her good hand in her own. "Do you want to talk about it now?"

Emma nodded, though sighing. This was going to be painful, maybe for both of them. "Are you sure you're ready to hear it?"

Snow only nodded, a lump forming in her throat. She hadn't expected Emma to want to explain, but she wasn't going to stop her now.

"I was… seventeen, out of the foster system and living on my own. I uh…" She stopped looking down at the counter "I stole a car, the bug actually. The only problem was that it was already stolen, by the man sleeping in the back seat" Snow squeezed her hand gently to get her to go on. "He took me for a drink, and a couple weeks later we were going out, living basically in the back of that car…" Now came the hard part.

"We… we had no money, no job or place to live. He didn't have any family either" Snow's hand squeezed Emma's tighter just as she thought she would. Emma had been choosing her words carefully making sure her mother wouldn't blame herself for the predicament Emma had found herself in, wanting to spare her any extra pain. "We got by stealing from convenience stores for a while, then one day he asked if I wanted to make a real life with him, get jobs and maybe an apartment or a house somewhere. I… I loved him" Emma said again looking down. For some reason it was important for her mother to know that.

"That never happened. He found out the police were after him for stealing these expensive watches and was going to take off to Canada. He didn't want me to go with him because he didn't want me to get in trouble" she laughed dryly at this. "I offered to get the watches he had hidden at a train station, so he could sell them and get enough money for use to go to escape together. I did, and was waiting for him to come back with the money with one of the watches on me when the next thing I know a cop is arresting me for possession of stolen goods" she stopped, tears coming to her eyes again.

"Neal turned me in, told them I stole the watches. I only got a year since I was still seventeen, but a month later I found out I was pregnant. I never heard from him again after that night until today"

Snow waited a while before speaking. "Now I can see why you didn't tell Henry the truth about him"

Emma nodded putting her head in her hand. "I don't even know what I'm going to tell him tomorrow, this is going to kill him. I have to do it before he finds out some other way though."

"At this point, all you can tell him is the truth" Snow said softly.

Emma gave a small laugh "what that his mother's a thief and his father left me to take the fall for him? He thinks he's dead, not to mention a hero. He's going to hate me"

"He won't hate you; he'll understand why you lied to him. As for being a thief, he doesn't seem to mind his grandmother being one, he's going to look up to you regardless Emma"

Emma nodded at first, and then slowly she comprehended what her mother had just said. "What do you mean he doesn't mind his grandmother being one?"

Snow straightened, giving her a strange look. "You haven't read Henry's book at all have you?"

"I skimmed it" Emma admitted eying her.

"How do you think I met your father? And before you say it, no I wasn't singing into some wishing well"

Emma smirked. "right"

"Read it again, you might find it interesting" Snow said tapping her daughter's hand. She wasn't going to give away that she too had been all alone, stealing to get buy. They were more alike than she had ever wanted. Patting the top of Emma's hand she stood.

"Get some sleep; you must be exhausted after everything today. We'll figure out everything in the morning. And don't worry about Neal, I doubt James well even let him near you after tonight"

"Yeah" Emma muttered but standing up she quickly hugged Snow who was taken by surprise but hugged her daughter back all the same.

**Reviews as always are appreciated, though I apologize in advance if there's no response. Take new chapters as my thank yous.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A little late present for everyone…**

**Chapter 2  
**

Though Emma had lain down in bed beside her son, she couldn't sleep. Every now and then she'd glance at him and see bits of Neal, sigh to herself and then stare back at the ceiling. After a few hours of this she sat up and changed back into her jeans, throwing a leather coat on. She quickly kissed her son on the temple, ruffling his hair before leaving the apartment careful not to wake her parents.

Once she was outside she decided to walk down the sidewalk, the cool night air hitting her face. She hadn't done this in years, took off in the middle of the night to walk on her own. It used to be a thrill in her teen years to see if she could sneak from foster parent's houses without them noticing, though more often than not they didn't even when she failed to come back by morning.

It occurred to her then that this would be the first time ever sneaking out of her actual parents' house, and also that Snow and James unlike her foster parents would worry. The thought of worrying her mother made her feel guilty and she thought about turning back when bright lights up ahead caught her attention.

She approached the small garage and found Marco working on what looked like a clock.

"Emma?" He said noticing her and straightening, tools in his hand. "What are you doing out so late? There hasn't been a crime around here has there?"

"Oh no, I was just out for a walk… thinking"

The old man nodded , hanging his head. "That is why I'm up trying to fix this old clock. Too much weighs on my mind for me to find rest"

Emma nodded, uncomfortably putting her hands in her pocket unsure of what to say.

Gepetto looked up at her and then motioned for her to step forward. "Come in, come in, it's a bit warmer in here and sometimes I find that fixing objects puts a mind at ease"

"I uh don't know how good I am at fixing things, I'm usually better at breaking them" She said all the while walking up to the table.

Gepetto laughed "Well you'll keep me in business then". As if a thought had just occurred to him he stopped and looked up at her.

"So you're really Gepptto right?" Emma asked slightly mystified by the look he was giving her.

"Oh oh yes" he said looking back at the clock, turning a few levers.

"So August…" She started but the image of him as wood once more quieted her.

"Yes Pinocchio is my son" He looked up to the corner of the room and to Emma's surprise, there he was sitting in a chair his wooden arm across his lap.

She took a step towards him, before turning back to Gepetto. "I'm so sorry, it's my fault he's a puppet again, I didn't believe, I…"

Gepetto stopped her taking her arm in his hand "No no no Emma, it is us who should be sorry, not you. My son has become wood again because he failed to look after you over the years, because he failed to make you believe in true love and fairytales and hope"

"I don't…" she started, not expecting to be having this conversation with him.

"It is alright" he looked down "I have faith that one day we will meet each other again"

The look on his face seemed heartbroken. It tugged on her heartstrings, and reminded her of her own father.

She went to where August was sitting and knelt in front of the lifeless puppet. "I forgive you August, I know you tried… I just didn't listen. I need you to know I don't blame you for leaving" It felt silly talking to dead air, nonetheless her head dropped as a tear fell landing on his leg.

A light shone through the room, and then a voice "Yeah well, you might want to hold onto that"

"August!"

"Pinocchio!"

With a smirk to Emma he stood, stretching his legs and arms quickly before hugging his father. "Papa"

"Oh my boy, my boy"

August winked to Emma over his father's shoulder, who was still in shock she had just turned him back into a man.

Holding him at arm's length he smiled before hugging his father again.

"I thought I'd never see you alive again"

"Well that's all thanks to Emma, and I overheard Archie say we had a new visitor in town looking for her. If you don't mind papa, I'd like to talk to her about him. We can continue this reunion later"

Gepetto looked put off at first at being away from his son so soon but looking towards Emma he conceded. "I owe you that much my dear, thank you, I don't know how to repay you"

She still wore the same shocked looked as she stared at August, even more surprised by the reference to Neal.

"Don't worry about it" she stammered.

August held his hand out gesturing for him and Emma to take a walk and she followed, shooting one last glance back at Gepetto before hitting the sidewalk once more.

"So Neal's here" he said a little ways away, hands in his pocket.

"How do you know him?" She asked suspiciously.

He gave her a grimace "We go back, about ten years back"

She stopped in her tracks, her head tilting "ten years?"

"Oh you know… back when he was in the watch business"

Her heart beat faster, though she had no reason to be nervous, after all she was the sheriff. "Stop playing games, what do you know?"

"I know that you and Neal were robbing convenience stores and sneaking into hotels, sleeping in the backseat of your car. I know you thought you'd have a future with him"

"You were following me?"

"More like checking up on you, after you got out of the foster system I came back to make sure you were on track to break the curse"

She stayed quiet steadying her breathing, glaring at him. "What did you do?"

"The night you took the watches from the train station, I followed Neal down an alley. I convinced him the only way you could do what you were meant to do, the only way you could break the curse would be for him to leave. We had to make you hate him, by turning you in and disappearing so you couldn't follow him" He finished staring wearily at her. He could see the anger brewing below the surface.

She felt the world around her crumbling, everything she had known had been turned upside down. "I gave up my son, because he left, because he was the only person I had" she snarled.

"I know" August said softly.

Emma wanted to hit him too, breathing heavily she glanced down to her casted hand considering using the other one. "Why did my life have to be ruined for the curse to be broken?" She wondered aloud to herself.

"To make you strong enough to do it"

"Yea" Emma said, feeling tired and drained now. She didn't want to think about how August had sabotaged her relationship, had manipulated her. Her life had been about breaking the curse, even if unknown to her before. It didn't matter how Emma had come to do it, what she had gone through because in the end it had been done.

"You were right" She said turning now to walk away back to the apartment.

"About what?" He said looking up

"I shouldn't have forgiven you" she said, watching the expression change on his face. With that she turned and walked away, thinking of how she was going to sneak back into the apartment.


	3. Chapter 3

**So the deal with this is, I wrote this chapter before the last one which equals two chapters in one day! Thanks for all the reviews and all the followers. I normally only write stories for shows that have been off the air for a while, but you guys are great. **

**Chapter 3**

Emma sat in the chair in front of his cell, her elbows leaning on her knees as she slumped looking at her cast.

From the bed at the back of the cell, Neal watched her. He noticed how tired she looked, like the weight of the world was on her shoulders. She was a lot tougher now and he realized she could probably kick his ass. He guessed that was what jail did to her, no what he did to her. He made her this way, and in some aspects it had made her able to be the savior. In other, it had taken away the soft parts of her, the ones he guessed no one here had ever seen.

"How's your hand?" He asked.

She looked down at it and shrugged "better"

"What are you doing here?" she asked her voice emotionless.

"Well your father locked me up, on trumped up charges though I doubt the Sheriff is going to take pity on me" He joked getting up and walking to the bars, placing both hands on them and leaning his head against the cool steel.

"What are you doing in Storybrook?" She clarified emotionless

"I already told you, I came to find you and explain" he answered honestly.

"August already told me what happened; it doesn't explain why you're here now"

She lifted her head to look at him, her beautiful green eyes sad, and her mouth in a slight pout.

Neal was stunned, he tried to think of what answer would suffice, an answer that would ease her worries and maybe get her to at least want to talk to him, but the truth came out of his mouth before he could think. A devastating truth, however one that had haunted him every single night and day since he had left. The very last thing he had said to her in fact. "I'm still in love with you"

His heart beat harder in his chest, as he watched her eyes widen, her mouth open slightly. Slowly she got up, confusion and hurt mixed on her face. In that instant he knew he had made a huge mistake.

"No you're not" she said coldly, her walls up in full force.

There was no way he could back down now; he would have to defend his words. "I've missed you every day since I left. I waited ten years to find you again"

"You left me alone in that prison, with nothing and no one" She snarled, stopping herself before she mentioned the pregnant part. Tears were starting to burn in her eyes.

"I thought I was doing what was best" He said his hands going to his sides.

"Best for who? You? August? This town? What about what was best for me? Why am I always the one getting screwed?" Her back was to him, but he could still hear the sob that escaped her. He realized then that this was about more than just him, it was about the pressure of being the savior, and the anger she still held for her parents.

He sighed staring at his feet. "I only wanted to do what was best for you"

She turned to face him, with each word she spoke her voice rising, getting closer and closer until they were face to face, almost touching. "Yeah well that's not good enough, not when you have a ten year old sitting in a dinner right now waiting to hear why exactly his father left… and why his mother had to give birth to him alone in jail"

Neal stared at her shocked, the weight of those words hitting him square in the chest. She made sure to leave no doubt as to whom the boy's father was, and Neal felt sick. "I…" He started utterly speechless.

In response, Emma turned and quickly left, her high heeled boots clicking determinedly.

"Emma wait!" He called out but she wasn't stopping, leaving him to sink to his knees.

…

"Emma how's your hand?" Henry asked, then seeing his mother's teary eyes "Are you okay?" She sat down across from him in the booth, patting his head with her good hand, a small smile on her face. No matter what he could always put her in a better mood.

"I'll be okay, there're some things I need to talk to you about, are you hungry?" She asked hoping he'd say no. She really didn't want all of Storybrook to hear what she had to say.

"Not really" Henry said, his eyes widening with curiosity.

"Good" she said standing back up and holding out her hand for his "Let's go for a ride then"

Henry slid out of the booth and crashed into her side hugging her. She smiled lightly, her hand going to his floppy brown hair _his father's hair_ she thought sadly.

He stayed silent the whole drive to where his castle once stood, now a playground. Getting out of the car he looked around. "What are we doing here?" he asked watching some kids play on the slide.

"Come on" She said leading him to a bench away from everyone, closer to the water.

For a while she watched the boats, silently wondering what to tell him, how upset he would be with her, as he fidgeted beside her.

"Henry, before I tell you anything, I want you to know that I love you more than anyone or anything in this world. Do you understand that?"

He nodded smiling that goofy grin. "I know, I love you too"

"Good" She sighed "because you might not like me too much after I tell you what I have too"

In response, Henry lifted her left arm enough for it to go around his shoulders, leaning his head against her.

She hugged him too her, knowing she was about to change his world forever.

"I lied to you before…. When you asked me about your dad… he's not dead"

"What?" he asked looking up at her "why would you do that?" The way his small voice broke at the end nearly killed her.

"Because I didn't want to hurt you, I didn't want you to hate him for what he did, and I didn't want you to think less of me"

He responded by hugging her closer, staying quiet. She sighed starting her story.

"When I was sixteen I left the foster system. I was all on my own… I did waitress for a while but I could barely pay rent. I started stealing then" She paused "It was the only way I could get by"

"Like your mom" Henry said, catching her off guard.

"What?" She asked. She remembered her conversation with Snow the night before but had thought she had been kidding.

Henry sighed, slipping his backpack off his back and taking out his storybook, flipping to the page he needed with ease. "After the Evil Queen tried to take her heart, Snow had to steal in the forest to survive. She met Red when she got caught stealing eggs, and met Prince Charming…" He flipped forward a couple pages in the book "when she sabotaged his carriage and stole his jewels. You were both stealing to get by.

Emma stared down at the page, still astounded that everything in the book had taken place. "Yeah… I guess so."

"So my dad?" Henry interrupted her thoughts.

"Right, I met your dad when I stole his car with him still in it, only he had already stolen it. We started dating and together got by robbing convince stores and sleeping in the back seat of the bug. We were going to start a life together"

She thought fondly about that time they were so carefree and happy.

"What happened? Henry asked.

"What happened was that he had a warrant out for his arrest for stealing some watches. The plan was for me to get the watches from the place he had hidden them, and to have him sell them so we could escape to Canada together. I was waiting for him to come back with the money when a police officer arrested me and told me Neal had tipped them off. For the last ten years I thought he set me up, I was so angry with him for leaving, for letting me take the blame for him… for putting me in the position where I had to give you away" She sighed trying to keep a check on her emotions.

"I'm sorry I lied to you before Henry, but I was still angry and hurt. I didn't know what I know now which is that your dad was trying to break the curse too"

Henry's head popped up in surprise "he knew about the curse?"

"August told him about it, he told him letting me take the blame for the watches and disappearing was the only way I could find my way back here"

"It makes sense" Henry said, "If you had gone to Canada with him, you wouldn't have had any reason to come to Storybrook"

"I guess so" Emma said wishing it made as much sense to her.

"So can I meet him?" Henry asked excitedly. Emma expected this and still didn't know how she felt about it. "I don't know if that's a good idea yet, I don't know if he plans to stay or what he wants, he only just found out about you this morning" she admitted. "And I don't want you to get your hopes up about him"

"He's here in Storybrook?"

She realized she had yet to tell him of the station's new inmate. "Um"

Henry stood up in front of her, his eyes full of excitement "Emma no one can come to Storybrook unless they're from the other world"

"Kid, I used to know him pretty well and he wasn't the fairytale type. Besides I met him in Portland, not Storybrook. If he came from there he wouldn't have been able to leave remember"

"He must have come here some other way then before the curse, please can I meet him Emma?"

Emma sighed leaning forward, thinking carefully. "Alright but" she said stopping his excitement "I want to talk to him first, which means no sneaking around town trying to find him okay?"

"Okay" he said practically bouncing up and down. "Are you going to talk to him today?"

"As soon as I get you home" she said knowing if she didn't Henry would get to him before she did.

Opening the door to the loft they found Snow making lunch and Henry ran to the bar, jumping on a stool. Snow laughed, putting a sandwich in front of him, only to have him scoff half it down in two bites.

"I guess that's my fault, we skipped lunch" Emma said coming into the kitchen. Snow only nodded, giving her daughter a cold glance before placing a plate down in front of her.

Taking a bite she watched her mother move around the kitchen. "Are you going back to the station today?" Snow asked.

"Um yeah in a few minutes actually" she said, making Henry shuffle in his chair. "Would you mind watching Henry for a while?"

"Sure take this to your father" she dropped a bag down in front of her, causing Emma to look at her cautiously.

…

_Meanwhile…_

"Look I know you're her father but please let me out of here, I need to talk to her again!" he yelled to David as he sat at his desk, pretending to read the paper. "Not going to happen"

Neal had been trying to convince him to let him out since David had come into work, sitting there the whole time behind that stupid paper. Neal was beginning to think the man was taking a little too much pleasure in this.

Neal paced the door of the jail, huffing loudly. "Look I didn't know she was pregnant, if I did I wouldn't have left"

James looked up from his paper staring at him a moment before placing it down on his desk folding it nicely. Neal watched hesitantly as the man came up to the bars, his hands on his hips and dangerously close to the gun on his side.

"Let's get one thing strait **I did not send my daughter to this world to have her be taken advantage of and hurt by you." **He finished, enunciating each word fiercely, grabbing Neal's shirt. His daughter was strong, so for her to break down into his arms the night before, only meant that she had really been hurt.

"I didn't take advantage of her" Neal said angrily, glaring at him.

"I work in a police station Mr. Cassidy you don't think I haven't looked up everything about you already, like how much older than her you are? And even if I didn't my wife has told me everything Emma has told her. And you see I'm what you would call a little old fashioned, so as you can guess the fact that my eighteen year old daughter was in jail and pregnant because of you upsets me quite a bit" David said that antagonizing smirk on his face.

"It's not what you think, and I did love her" Neal said standing up to him. "When I was with her I took care of her a lot better than anyone else had"

His words must have struck a chord with David because he backed down a little just as Emma came in through the door of the small station, causing both men to look up.

"I brought lunch" she said placing the bag on David's desk, looking only at him.

"Thanks" he said walking to it and taking out the sandwich and note attached to it, reading it before stuffing it in his pocket. "Have you talked to Snow today?" He asked

"Kind of, she didn't say much, she seemed upset"

David gave her a look she couldn't place "I expect she would be, after she found you missing from the apartment last night"

Emma's eyes went wide "I didn't think anyone would notice" she said getting a hard look "I'm sorry, I'll talk to her"

Emma grabbed the keys off her desk and went to the cell, putting the key in the key in the door and opening it. "We need to talk" she said to answer his confused look but he nodded.

"You're letting him out?" David asked a hint of anger in his voice.

"Yep" Emma said leading Neal through the station.

"Emma wait" David said grabbing her arm to stop her. "Are you sure about this?"

Emma looked into her worried father's face. "I'd rather not have Henry see him in here besides, things have changed I'll explain later" she said softly.

She turned to leave, Neal behind her. David watched her leave feeling powerless. He didn't feel right leaving his daughter alone with the man who had hurt her so bad but what could he do?

…


	4. Chapter 4

**Had to rewrite this, sorry I don't often do this but it had to be done.**

**Chapter 4**

Emma tapped the steering wheel unsure of what to say now that she had driven them both in the bug to just outside of town, pulling over behind the Storybrook sign she had crashed into so long ago. Finally she got out of the car, sliding onto the hood and hugging her knees to her chest.

Neal got out of the car and sat next to her, still amazed she had kept it after all these years. _That meant something right?_ "His name's Henry?"

Emma nodded suddenly feeling protective of both her and her son.

"What's he like?" Neal asked wanting to know the son he had unintentionally left so long ago.

Emma thought about the boy who had come into her life a year ago like a storm. "He's smart… sometimes too smart for his own good, he's also an expert at sneaking out and getting his way. He's imaginative and caring, sweet, brave" She could go on forever "He's everything I would have wanted him to be"

The way she talked about their son, made his heart clench. "He sounds great, sounds like you've done a great job with him" He said rubbing his nose to stop the tears from falling. How he wished he could have been there for them both.

Emma shifted the lump in her throat hurting. "No… he did that all on his own, and trust me Regina's no prize" she laughed almost to herself. "She's going to kill me when she finds out about you"

"Who's Regina?" Neal asked confused.

Emma looked at him, realizing her slip. Of course she had had to tell him eventually. "She's his adoptive mother" she said softly, biting the inside of her mouth.

Neal stared at her confused until she looked away. He brought a hand up over his mouth, feeling his hand shake.

"I gave him up for adoption" Emma whispered softly "You were gone, and I couldn't do it alone… I knew I couldn't even support myself once I got out, I didn't even have a job. Everyone told me it would be his best chance…" A sob racked her body before she could continue "And then a year ago he showed up at my doorstep in Boston and brought me here… and I had to stay for him, because I realized he didn't have the life I wanted him to have" She said, her eyes filling with tears. "And I couldn't let him go"

"Oh Emma" he said standing, his back to her. There was nothing he could say, it wasn't her fault for the situation he put her in. He turned to face her, his eyes red because something didn't fit. "What about the money I sent?"

"What money?"

"Wha… the money from the watches! The eighteen grand I gave to August to give to you! It was with the bug!"

She felt like a ton of bricks had been swung at her, hitting her square in the stomach. That money would have changed everything "August?"

"Yes August, he met me in Canada and I gave him the keys and the money"

She leant against the car her knees going weak.

"You're telling me you didn't get it?"

"No" Emma answered her mind lost in thought. There was no way Neal was lying, she could tell just by his face.

"Why would he do that? He said he was helping you; it would have at least been enough to get you and Henry by for a while"

"It was all part of the plan to get me here to break the curse" She said starting to realize. Someone had made sure Henry found his way here, that was no accident, and it seemed giving him up hadn't been entirely her idea but the one someone had led her too.

Neal paced angrily "Screw the curse, this crossed the line, he had _no_ right to do this"

For a long time after it was quiet, the birds in the woods making the only sounds. As each thought of the "what if's" of their lives and what they could have been had things been different, if they had done things different. Tallahassee was long out of the question but both wished for it more now than ever.

"You're from there aren't you" Emma asked, knowing the answer already. She had believed Henry earlier but hadn't wanted to admit it until now.

Neal looked at her, his eyes going wide. "I don't know what you're…"

"Don't lie to me. Like I said Henry's a smart kid, and if there's one thing he knows is this town and the people in it" Nodding to the border behind them "No one can come to Storybrook unless they're from that realm, and no one can leave without losing their memories except anyone who escaped the curse which means Me, Henry, August and you"

Neal closed his eyes briefly thinking back so long ago to that time he was a boy. "Yeah sure" he said uncomfortably.

"So what was your part in all this? Spy on me? Get my heart and break it so I was the savior I needed to be?"

"No" He moved towards her "It wasn't like that, I had no idea about the curse until August told me, I promise. Besides you stole my car, not the other way around remember?"

"Who are you really then?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean what fairytale character are you supposed to be? Because I'm at a loss here"

"We might all be fairytale characters, but that doesn't mean we're all well-known. I'm no one special"

"Alright a name then, I'm guessing it's not Neal Cassidy"

Neal shook his head. "I like Neal"

"You're not going to tell me?" She asked hurt.

"There's a reason I left that place Emma, a reason I've spent my whole life trying to forget about it. Just leave it okay?" He said a little too harshly, causing Emma to shrink away from him a little. "It's better for you and Henry if you don't know"

"Henry will figure it out soon enough. He wants to meet you by the way, that's really what this was about"

"He does?" Neal asked excitedly, the same twinkle in his brown eyes that she had seen in Henry's earlier.

"But I need to know what you plan on doing here, because I can't let him get hurt in this. I only just came back into his life and two weeks ago I was planning on leaving again. He can't keep wondering whether or not his parents are going to stick around."

Neal thought about this, and knew that he would never again leave his boy. Though he knew nothing about being a father except what not to do, the kid deserved to know his parents and to have them be there for him like Neal's own never were.

"I want to be here for him in whatever way he'll let me. The same goes for you" He said staring at her.

"And no stealing" Emma said crossing her arms in front of her.

Neal smirked at her "wouldn't want the sheriff after me"

"Okay" Emma said, cautiously. Neal could tell that nothing had changed, her walls were still up.

"Okay so when do I get to meet him?"

"I don't know… soon, it's a small town, and I won't be able to keep him from running off and finding you himself for much longer"

"How about tomorrow?" Neal suggested.

"Tomorrow then"

Emma dropped Neal off at Granny's to get a room, not missing the confused glances from Red, but she left before the woman could corner her about it.

Finally arriving back at the apartment she found only Snow there, sitting on the couch reading or at least pretending to.

"Hi" Emma said softly putting her keys down and shrugging out of her jacket. It was quiet in the loft, too quiet for a ten year old to be there. "Where's Henry"

"At the stables with James" came the short response.

Emma walked around the side of the couch, her arms crossed ready to get this fight over with. "Alright I know you're mad at me"

No response came. She had expected some snarky response like the morning after she had tried to take off with Henry but nothing.

"And I know you know I left the apartment last night. I'm sorry"

"For what? You're an adult; you can do what you want"

"I'm sorry for worrying you, I didn't think anyone would notice, I just needed to go for a walk to clear my head"

"Yeah well, I did" Snow said tossing the book down. "And you don't have to lie I know you went to see Neal"

"What?" Emma asked taken aback. Never would she have thought this was what Snow would be angry about. "I'm not lying. I went for a walk. You can ask Gepetto yourself"

Snow looked a little taken aback. "So you aren't getting back together with him?"

"No" Emma said sitting down next to her mother. "I just want Henry to meet him, that's all"

There was a sigh of relief "I thought…" Snow closed her eyes. "I just don't trust him around you"

"Okay"

**Reviews are much appreciated, although I prefer the ones that haven't blocked private messaging. ;)**


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